OBE #3 Centralization or Decentralization
Frank Lloyd Wright had a Utopian view of how Broadacre was going operate under is plan. In the article “Broadacre City: A New Community Plan,” Wright believes that dispersing an acre of land to every person in the community is the key to solving the issues around unemployment and class struggle. The support for this argument that everyone is motivated to work out of their own self interest. Wright also thought that architecture should work with the natural ground. Where form was equal to function. In the center of Wright’s design was a school to keep the small groups of buildings bunched together.
Le Corbisier believed in centralizing. He thought that regimenting the streets into neatly spaced rows was functional. Rather than have architecture be apart of nature, he argured for geometric shaped buildings. In contrast to Wright’s idea of viewing the functionality of growing crops as a beautiful site, Le Corbisier planned circle surround the bottom of the skyscrapers. In these open spaces were areas of retail. One could shop, eat, or stroll through the luxury shops, cafes, and gardens. The center of the his town would be the railway station. The station acted as a hub that worked well for clearing out the city.
Karah Barr